Swedish ambassador expelled from Mali for “hostile” remarks – Euractiv

Mali’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday (August 9) that Sweden’s ambassador to Bamako, Christine Kunel, has been asked to leave the West African Sahel country within 72 hours due to “hostile” remarks made by the Swedish minister.

The diplomatic row highlights broader geopolitical changes in the region, with three military-led countries – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – turning away from traditional Western allies and toward Russia.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Trade Johan Fussell said on Wednesday that the Swedish government has decided to phase out aid to Mali due to its relations with Moscow.

Commenting on a post on the X website saying Mali would sever ties with Ukraine, Fussell said: “You cannot support Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and at the same time accept hundreds of millions of crowns in development aid every year.”

Mali, ruled by a military junta since 2020, has been fighting ethnic Tuareg rebels in the north and Russia’s Wagner mercenaries after severing military cooperation with Western powers, including EU countries.

Since then, relations between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and the West have deteriorated as the three countries have turned to Russia for support.

According to a statement on the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Sweden decided in June to close its embassy in Bamako, the capital of Mali, by the end of the year.

A spokesman for Forssell said on Friday that the decision to suspend and cancel development aid was made in December, but humanitarian aid will continue.

There was no immediate comment from Sweden’s Foreign Ministry.

Last week, Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine over comments by a diplomat suggesting Kiev had provided help to Tuareg rebels who claimed to have killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry later said there was no evidence that Kiev was involved in the fighting and called Mali’s decision short-sighted and hasty.

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